Saved Again
by spinzgirl
Summary: Keith gets hurt while on a mission but tries to hide it from Allura. Drabble request for Kallura Positivity Day 2018


SAVED AGAIN

Every inch of Keith's body felt it. The surge of electricity flowed through him for several seconds before abating, preventing him from mounting any sort of offense. For now the best he could do was try to shield himself from the oncoming blow.

The Blade missions had gotten progressively tougher as the Galra seemed to always be one step ahead of their plans. This was the first time Allura had joined them as they believed there might be surviving Alteans on this wasteland of a planet.

What they didn't anticipate was that the intel was actually a trap planted by Lotor in an attempt to lure the Princess out of the castleship.

The ambush had separated them and it seemed like the androids would never stop coming. Keith fought them as quickly as he could, wanting to find Allura and the others in order to escape. He'd finally had the upper hand when a druid appeared from a puff of smoke, releasing its attack before the paladin could defend himself.

The shock itself was painful but the damage not permanent. It was the next blow- being thrown across the room into a stack of large metal containers- that rendered him useless.

On impact he'd heard a loud cracking noise but couldn't determine where on his body it originated. When he hit the floor there was less pain than there should have been, however, and that concerned him the most. For a moment he lay perfectly still, hoping the druid would move on and leave him to die.

That didn't happen. The sound of a second charge crackled in the air and he braced himself for another hit. If he survived this one he knew he had to get up and fight back.

He had to save Allura.

"Kolivan, over here!"

Keith breathed a sigh of relief. The team had found him and began to fight off the remaining fighters. The druid disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, hopefully for good.

"Can you stand?" he heard one of his teammates ask. Large hands grabbed onto his upper torso and arms, slowly pulling him to his feet.

Not wanting to be a bother he waved them off, assuring them he was fine. Granted his head was swimming and he couldn't feel his legs, but he was sure after a moment that would fix itself.

Footsteps soon came running towards the group. Allura had discovered a handful of refugees and was hiding them until the fighting had stopped. She took one look at Keith and rushed over to him, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Ow ow ow!" he cried, wincing at the sharp jolt running down his arms. He regretted it immediately as the Princess retreated from the hug.

"Keith, are you hurt?" she asked, looking him over for bruises or cuts. Seeing none she relaxed a bit, gently holding onto his hand as she spoke to him. "Let's get you back to the castle to get checked out, just in case."

Once again Keith insisted there was nothing to be concerned about. Getting the refugees to Olkarion was the most important thing right now. His injuries could wait.

The Blade loaded the Alteans onto their ship while Keith decided to go with Allura in the blue lion. They'd seen little of each other with him being away for missions so often. He missed her terribly but couldn't bring himself to say so.

The flight was quiet save for small talk about the goings-on in the castle. Keith was having difficulty focusing so Allura did most of the talking. A few times he had to pinch himself to keep from nodding off.

It didn't help in the end.

When he woke up he was looking at his own reflection. It took a moment for him to realize he was in a healing pod on the ship. When the partition gave way he was greeted by a very worried princess.

She led him by the hand to a chair and placed her hand on his shoulder, bidding him to sit. She kneeled down beside him, her hands reaching up to touch his face. Her eyes were bright but sad, tears skimming her irises. He could only guess he was worse off than he'd thought.

"You almost died, you know."

Keith's brain screeched to a halt, trying to digest the words.

He'd almost died?

"Wha-? I don't understand," he sputtered, nearly flying out of his seat. He was sure she saw the fear in his eyes as she began to stroke his cheek to calm him.

"You broke your neck. Luckily the spinal cord didn't sever," she started, the words catching in her throat. "Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"

The paladin didn't want to admit the truth, but he didn't ever want to lie to her either. LIke a deck of cards, he shuffled words around in his mind until he felt he had a hand he could play.

"I was just worried about you," he whispered. "I needed to get you somewhere safe."

Allura's hand paused, her thumb dangerously close to his lips. When he looked down he saw her eyes once again brimming with tears. He hadn't said much but she understood the sentiment completely.

The heaviness in the air made Keith feel restless and he wanted desperately to chase it away. He turned his head slightly toward her hand, catching the pad of her thumb in a brief kiss. It was a gamble on his part, not knowing how the Princess might take such a gesture.

"Keith-" she blurted out, stopping herself short.

He'd never find out where that sentence was going. In a flash Allura had pulled him down to the floor, crashing her lips into his. He could feel his body become weightless, every care in the universe vanishing in a split second. Keith wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tighter.

From day one he'd wanted to be her protector. From day two he'd yearned to kiss her.

He never expected her to be the one to save him, then turn around and save him again.


End file.
